The government's sudden demonetisation move added an extra dimension of hardship into the lives of house-helps, daily wage labourers and vegetable vendors in the city. The urban poor, especially those without bank accounts, were the ones most affected, and they struggled to find cash for daily needs.

Most house-helps in the city earn between Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,000, and they spent the day after the withdrawal of the high denomination currency notes requesting their owners to provide them with notes that were still legal tender. “My househelp stays with me but sends money to her son back home.Three days ago, I paid her Rs 1,500 in the denominations of 500 and 1000, which she cannot use. I barely had Rs 200, and thus, could not lend her any money. She does not have a bank account and is confused about what is to be done to ensure that she gets her money back,“ said Kanishka Soni, an actress and playback singer who stays at Yari Road, in Versova.

Most house-helps walked to their work places to save on cash that could still be used.
Mangala Bawaskar, who works as a househelp in Andheri, said that she walked long distances to reach different homes where she works, as she had run out of usable cash to hire a rickshaw, or to buy a bus ticket.

“I got to know to know of the news late in the night. I do not have an ATM card and only function on cash. All the money I have saved are in the denominations that cannot be used anymore,“ said Bawaskar.

Life also “came to a halt“ yesterday for Shil pa Mane, who sells bangles and knick-knacks on the city's locals.

She does not possess a bank account and business was insipid. “I picked up stuff to sell on Tuesday, and have saved some money at home. But I could not buy anything from grocers, and passengers don't want to buy stuff unless I accept their old notes“ she added.

Mukesh Mulchandani, who owns a pan kiosk in Matunga, was made aware of the news late on Tuesday night when people started coming up to him asking for change. Now, Mulchandani is finding it difficult to make ends meet, as most of his customers do not have the required change to pay for their purchases. “My earnings went down by half,“ he said. The situation is even worse for daily wage labourers such as Rajesh Manjre.“I have to travel by bus everyday and there is barely any money left for the same“.